Maine. Portland, Maine. Part I

Last week was NEMO Univeristy 7, or NEMO U007. NEMO is a program within the organization I work for (NEMO stands for Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) that educates local land use officials about the relationship between land use practices and natural resource protection so that our cities and towns can balance healthy growth with protecting our water and land resources. If that sounded like a mouthful, just trust me, this is very important work. The Connecticut NEMO program was created in 1991 at the University of Connecticut and since then, over 30 states have created similar programs nationwide. Together, they make up the National NEMO Network. Personally, I think it's pretty snazzy that it was all started in our little state of Connecticut. Because CT is the "Hub" of the Network, we are responsible for organizing the Network-wide conference. NEMO Universities are held every two years and provide opportunities for NEMO program leaders, partners, funders and friends to network with one another, share successful approaches and learn about new technologies (this is where I come in) and techniques.

NEMO U6 in Monterey, CA, 2008

NEMO U's are guaranteed fun and always have a theme attached to them. For example, NEMO U4 was called "NEMO U4ia" and had a hippie vibe (we didn't have to work hard at that), NEMO U5 was called "Cinco de NEMO" and had a Mexican theme. You get the idea. NEMO U007 was...you may have guessed it...Bond, James Bond. In the spirit of it all, we had secret agent attire and spy gear to enjoy throughout the conference. I'm pretty sure NEMO U's are like no other conference out there, they are simply a ton of fun and always held in the best locations. This year, it was in Maine....Portland, Maine to be exact.

The conference was held at the Portland Regency Hotel. The Regency is one of the oldest and nicest hotels in the city and is located right in the heart of the "Old Port" district where all of the streets are cobblestone and the streetscape is filled with wonderful restaurants, shops and galleries.

Here's a few shots of me helping with conference registration. I don't think the older hotel guests who were not affiliated with NEMO U really understood the Bond theme but I tried to get them excited anyway. Like my spy glasses? Betcha didn't even know it was me.

I did have some real responsibilities at this conference. My colleague Emily and I ran a workshop titled, "Never Say Never: You Too Can Create Cool Web Maps" where we taught participants how to utilize Google Maps and Google Earth to create and embed maps for their websites.

NEMO U's always have lots of time built into the schedule for fun outings. Here's a shot of the conference goers enjoying a boat ride in Casco Bay. Can you pick me out of the first picture? Those spy glasses came in handy for blending in! The boat ride was wonderful and the sunset on the Bay was just spectacular.

On another night we took yet another boat ride to Peaks Island in Casco Bay for a good old fashioned lobster bake. You can't come to Maine and not eat lobster - well, that is unless your a veg head like me, then you eat veggie burgers...mmm. Still, it was fun watching everyone enjoy their lobster bibs.

As part of the conference we took part in a walking tour of Portland where we navigated the city looking for sustainable practices such as Low Impact Development (LID). Here are just a few of the stops along the way.

Rain garden (L) and community garden (R)

Green roof (L) and pervious pavement (R)

It turned out to be a great way to see the city and low and behold, we even came across the Maine Marathon FINISH line on our walk...just perfect for my practice run across the line. Can you guess where this story goes from here? You'll just have to stick around for Portland, Maine, Part II to hear about the rest of the week in Maine. I'll give you a sneak peek...it includes seven other Chadwick family members and one 26.2 mile run. Check back soon!

Cue "Chariots of Fire"